Freedom for Children to Grow

In our campaign to defend our rights to home educate it will be useful to lobby:

• councillors and council officers - about local policy and the input they will give to the DfES consultation
• Members of Parliament - about the consultation and if primary legislation is proposed, the passage of the legislation through the House of Commons and House of Lords

Councillors and Council Officers

Local councillors can be contacted by post or you can make appointments to visit them at their regular local surgeries. Judging by recent experiences in Sheffield it would be wrong to assume any level of awareness or understanding of home education and the law relating to it.

It is our belief that this lack of awareness and understanding is what is fuelling the demands of local authorities for new powers in relation to home education. In addition local agencies- e.g. the police - have a poor understanding of the Law and their responsibilities.

It is worth looking at the information on the Council website about home education; many get the law wrong. You can forward information or take information to surgeries with you to help "educate" your representatives.

Raising awareness of our existence and the concerns of our community should be the first aim.

It is a good idea to focus on one or two points in your first letter or visit. Ask questions and ask them to write to you with replies if they are unable to give the information you require there and then. If you are unable to answer something make a note and say you will get back to them with the information.

Don't be intimidated. Have a think about what you want to say and make a few brief notes to refer to. Think about what you want to get from the meeting. Just think of it as a normal conversation, put your points across and listen to the responses.

When you finish write some brief notes of what was said. Let others in your group know what you have done and give some feedback.

It is very useful to build up a relationship with your new contacts. Write to thank them for the meeting, ask further questions and try to open a dialogue.

Ask them to keep you informed of any developments in future.

In addition to this one-to-one lobbying there are regular councils meetings - both full council meetings and meetings relating to particular council departments.

"Scrutiny committee" meetings are held which officers and elected representatives attend. These meetings are open to the public and are to hold the cabinet of the council to account for their running of services and for their policies and performance. In Sheffield we found that it is possible to put questions, as a member of the public, at these meetings.

After some pretty awful truancy-watch sweeps in December in Sheffield three local home ed parents contacted the officer who deals with the agenda for the Children and Young People's Directorate Scrutiny Board. We were able to make a statement and ask questions which has resulted in a series of meetings being arranged with senior council officers. The committee amended their agenda for the coming months and made room for us to return to the committee in February. We are raising issues and in February a report will be submitted to the Scrutiny Board about home education. One officer had said she would submit a report but we said we wanted to be consulted about the reports content.

There is a new duty for local authorities to consult with major stakeholders. It is very clear that the officer was not aware of the breadth of services now impacting on our community or the issues facing it.

Amongst the issues we are raising are:

• truancy watch
• the council's duties in law
• the information they make available and the information which they say they require from us.
• reasons why some families prefer not to be known
• the issue of resources, examination centres, access to colleges
• the forthcoming new local authority guidance
• the public consultation

Ultimately, if we are able to influence the Council's response in a positive way to the DfES Consultation we will have had some success.

If this could be replicated throughout the country we may have a major impact on the Consultation.

Summary
We can have an influence on the local authority either individually or collectively, through our groups, by lobbying individual councillors or council officials, or by attending Council meetings.

Members of Parliament

Which party do they represent? Do they hold any particular positions? What subjects have they shown an interest in?

Again think about what you want to say in advance- try to restrict yourself to two or three issues and think about what you want them to do. Read this example of a visit to an MP's surgery.

MPs can ask questions on your behalf, in the House of Commons or of Government Departments.

At this stage of the campaign we can ask questions about the present law, the Consultation and the basis on which it is being conducted, the proposed new local authority guidance, issues of concern to you as a home educator. If it is decided following the consultation that new legislation will be taken through Parliament our MPs will be crucial. We believe it is important that we make links with our MPs now. They could be the ones discussing home ed and voting to change the law.

• will keep people updated
• give suggestions for activities, questions etc at the various stages of the campaign
• If changes are to the law are sought then other activities will become relevant, and the website will keep you updated on this

Model Letters

Always request a response.

E-mail is an alternative way to contact your MP - again, use the model letters as a guide.